The website redesign checklist.
A redesign can improve a website a great deal, or quietly lose the visitors it already had. This checklist covers how to decide whether you need one, what to record first, how to protect your search visibility and what to test on launch day.
- Redesign when the site no longer fits the business, not when it just looks old.
- Record where you stand first, so you can tell whether the new site is better.
- Protect your search visibility: keep or redirect every address that matters.
5 min readPublished By Domeq Solutions
Do you actually need a redesign?
A website that looks a few years old is not necessarily a website that needs replacing. Sometimes the structure is sound and a handful of fixes would do more good than a rebuild.
A redesign earns its cost when the site stops doing its job: when it no longer reflects the business, is hard to use on a phone, or cannot be changed without effort. The signs below help you tell the difference.
Redesign when the website no longer fits the business, not when it merely feels old.
Seven signs a redesign is due.
- The site does not describe what the business does today
- It is hard to use on a phone
- Pages load slowly, and fixes have not helped
- You cannot update content without a developer
- Visitors do not reach the pages that bring enquiries
- The look no longer matches your brand
- The platform is outdated or no longer supported
Not sure? The free website audit is a good first look.
Record where you stand first
Before anything changes, write down how the current site performs. Without a baseline you cannot tell whether the new one is better, and you may miss pages that quietly bring in most of your visitors.
Google Search Console and Google Analytics hold most of this data. Export it before the redesign begins.
Eight things to record.
- Visits to each page over the last year
- The pages that bring in enquiries
- The searches that bring people to the site
- Page speed on a phone
- Mobile problems you already know about
- Broken links and missing pages
- Content you will definitely keep
- Questions customers ask that the site does not answer
Plan the new site
Good redesigns are planned on paper before they are designed on screen. The plan decides what the site is for, which pages it needs and what happens to the old ones.
Six steps before the build.
Set the goals
Decide what the site must achieve, such as more enquiries or clearer information.
Map the pages
List the pages you will keep, merge, rewrite or drop.
Plan the redirects
Decide where every old address will point, so no valuable page ends in an error.
Audit the content
Keep what works, update what is stale and write what is missing.
Design and build
Turn the plan into pages. See UI/UX Design for how structure and design fit together.
Test everything
Check the site on real devices before it goes live.
Protect your search visibility
A redesign can lose the search visibility you have built if addresses change without redirects or pages disappear. Most of the damage comes from a small number of avoidable slips.
The aim is simple: every address that earns visits should either stay the same or point permanently to its new home. Then search engines, and the people who bookmarked you, follow along. See SEO for the wider picture.
Six ways a redesign loses visitors.
Changing addresses with no redirects
Old links and search results end in an error page.
Dropping pages that bring traffic
Check your baseline before removing anything.
Leaving search engines blocked
Sites are often blocked while they are being built. Unblock the live one.
Losing titles and descriptions
A rebuild that resets them can undo years of work.
Forgetting analytics
If tracking is not reinstalled, you lose your view of what happens next.
Launching untested
Broken forms and links cost you enquiries from the first day.
Launch day and the weeks after
Launching is the start of the last phase, not the end. The first days are when problems show, so plan to look closely and fix quickly.
Domeq redesigns existing websites as well as building new ones. Requirements take about a week and delivery takes at least two weeks, with full QA and sanity testing, so the checks below are built into the project.
Eight checks for launch.
- Redirects tested on the pages that matter
- Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
- Analytics recording visits
- Every form and contact link tested
- The site checked on phone, tablet and laptop
- Page speed checked
- Search Console watched for errors in the first weeks
- Old pages that brought traffic still reach the right place
Questions, answered.
How often should a website be redesigned?
There is no fixed schedule. Redesign when the site stops fitting the business or stops doing its job. Regular improvements in between can make a full redesign less frequent.
Will a redesign hurt my SEO?
It can if addresses change without redirects or useful pages are dropped. Planned carefully, a redesign can improve search performance. Protecting visibility is part of the plan above.
How long does a redesign take?
It depends on the website. At Domeq, requirements take about a week and delivery takes at least two weeks, including full QA and sanity testing.
Should I redesign my website or fix what I have?
If the structure is sound, targeted fixes to speed, content and search setup may be enough. If the site no longer fits the business, a redesign makes more sense. A free website audit helps you tell.
Do I need new content for a redesign?
Usually some. Keep what works, update what is out of date and write what is missing. A content audit at the start shows which is which.
Can Domeq redesign my website?
Yes. Domeq redesigns existing websites as well as building new ones. See Website Design & Development.
Keep reading.
More guides on the same topic, and on the ones around it.
- What Affects the Cost of a Website in India?What decides the cost of a website in India? Seven price factors, how to compare quotes fairly, and the costs that arrive after the quote.Website Design & Development
- Questions to Ask a Web Design Agency Before You Hire OneQuestions to ask a web design agency before hiring: scope, timeline, ownership, SEO, testing, support and cost, with what good and weak answers look like.Website Design & Development
- How Long Does It Take to Build a Website?How long does it take to build a website? A realistic timeline by project type, what slows a build down, and how to get yours live sooner.Website Design & Development
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